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(No Mod eh) Y l R ROBERTS. BOAT DETAGHING APPARATUS.

No. 288,862. Patented Nev. 20, 1883.

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' chains which extend to a catch or looking de- U ITED STATES ROBERT ROBERTS, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

BOAT-DETACHING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 288,862, dated November 20, 1883.

'Appl-ication filed'August B, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, ROBERT ROBERTS, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boat-Detaching Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of detaching apparatus which employs pivoted inverted hooks mounted on each end of the boat to engage with the davitbloeks, which hooks are held down in their sustaining positions by vice in the middle of the boat, by the shipping of which both hooks are released simultaneously and both ends of the boat detached at the same instant.

The aim of my improvement is to provide an apparatus of thischaracter which shall be simpler, and also less expensive in construction and more easy and certain in its action, than those heretofore devised; and my improvements lie chiefly in the manner of 191V. otally connecting the hooks with theirsustaining-supports in the boat, and in the manner of connecting said supports to the boat.

In the drawings annexed, Figurel presents a longitudinal section of a boat provided with my improved detaching apparatus, shown in its locked and sustaining position. Fig. 2 is a similar but fragmentary section, showing the apparatus released. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line a? a: of Figs. 1 and 2, looking toward the bow. Fig. 4: is an enlarged plan view of one of the hooks and its adjuncts. Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspectiveview of the locking and tripping device which Iprefer to employ, located in the center of the boat.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, I affix a strong metal standard, a a, in each end of the boat. These standards are preferably made of wrought-iron, fixed at the lower end in the keel and rising atthe top above the deck or seats of the boat, as shown. The lower ends of the standards are formed with the shoulders a, which rest upon the top of the keelson and have a threaded stem, a, which projects through the keelson and receives the nuts I b, which are screwed thereon into arecess on the under side of the keelson, after which the end of the screw-stem is riveted over the nut, thereby securing the standards firmly to the keelson of the boat. To the top of the standards a is pivoted a link or pair of links, d d, (see Figs. 1, 2, and 4,) and the opposite ends of these links are pivoted to the bight of an inverted hook, c, the hooked end of which is turned away from the standard, while the head or body of the hook extends down close to and parallel with the side of the standard, as shown in Fig. 1, and is connected with a length of strong chain, 6, which passes around a sheave, Z, in the lower part of the standard, and thence extends toward the middle of the boat, where the like chain from each end tends to meet, as shown. The ends of each chain connect to an adjustable screw-eye, m, which screws into a hooked bolt, in, which bolts have a dovetailed form and fit into dovetailed ways in a socket-plate, 0, which is bolted to the keelson at the center of the boat. (See Figs. 2, 3, and 5.)

By means of the adjustable screw-eyes m m it will be seen that the effective length of the chains may be adjusted when the apparatus is set, so that when the chains are drawn taut to the center of the boat, and the hooks there by drawn down into their set or sustaining position, as shown in Fig. 1, the hooked ends of the bolts will abut closely together at the center of the socket-plate 0, as seen in Figs. 1 and 5. Now, just at the center of the socket-plate is pivoted an elbow-lever, f, the long arm of which rises up in front of the edge of the middle seat, 2', of the boat, and is bent and shaped to serve as a handle, while the short arm is made in the form of a broad, fiat, slotted plate adapted to snugly fit over and engage the hooked abutting ends of the bolts n a when the said lever is thrown into its straight or looking position, as will be understood from Figs. 1 and 3, thereby firmly holding said bolts and the chains and hooks therewith connected, and thus locking the hooks in their set or sustaining position, as shown in Fig. 1. When the lever is thus set in its locking position, it may be there held secure against accidental releaseby means of a linchpin, g, which is passed through a hole in the handle of the lever into a hole in the edge of the seat i, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. It will therefore be seen that when the apparatus is set, as above described, and shown in Fig. 1, the hooks I firmly suspended upon said hooks.

on the davit-blocks may be readily engaged with the hooks c in each end of the boat, and the tackle may then be operated to raise or lower the 1 boat, and the boat will become It will be noted that when thus suspended the entire weight of the boat is borne directly by the chains 6 e, and these are held at the center of the boat wholly by the locking-lever f. No tearing-strain, however, comes upon the structure of the boat at the center by reason of the strain on the chains, for it will be seen that they pull equally in opposite directions upon the lever and the socket-plate 0, and hence the strain is equalized, and none bears upon the structure of the boat at this point. It will be further seen that when theboat is supported as described persons may freely enter the boat from the ship without danger of accidentally or prematurely detaching the same, for if any person steps upon the chains 0 it will have no effect to loosen the hooks, but, on the contrary, tend to tighten them, whereas detaching apparatuses employing rods which release by pulling are likely to be set off by stepping thereon, which danger is in this case entirely overcome. Now, before or when the passengers thus enter the boat, one of the crew takes his position on the central seat, t, and removes the linchpin g, and takes hold of the handle of the lever f, and awaits the command to release. As the boat approaches the surface of the water and the command to release is givcn, the boatman instantly depresses the lever to one side, as shown in Fig. 5 and indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, thereby releasing the bolts 12 n and the chains 6 c, which at once allows the hooks c c to fly up and upset or overturn, as shown in Fig. 2, thus releasing each end of the boat simultaneously from the davit-tackle in a simple, safe, and easy manner, as will be readily appreciated.

It will be readily noted that the action of this apparatus is peculiarly simple, smooth, and certain, for at the moment of release there is practically no friction and no dead-points to oppose the free overturning of the hooks, for it will be noted that the center of the bight of the hooks c, in which the hooks of the davit-blocks are engaged, and which is the point of suspension of the hooks 0 on the davit-blocks, is at some lateral distance from the point at which the hook is pivoted to the links, and this point is also at a good lateral distance from the point at which the links are pivoted to the top of the standard,- hence there is no dead-point whatever in the upsetting movement of the hook, and there is practically no friction in its movement, and hence a great advantage is observed in employing the links d d to pivotally connect the hook to its pivotal standard or support, instead of pivoting the hook directly to a standard or support, as heretofore. It will be also noted that as the chains 6 and bolts a a are free to move, when released, in the direct lines of strain, and

as all the contact-surfaces are in the same direct line, there is hence practically no pressure on the contact-surfaces, and consequently no friction, which feature renders the releas ing action of the parts smooth, instantaneous, and certain, which is very desirable in boatdetaching apparatuses.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 4, I prefer to secure 011 the deck or seat, through which. the hooks c and standards a arise, a slotted metal plate, 8, (see Fig. 1,) the slot of which surrounds the standard and-hook, and allows the hook to rise up through the same when released, as will be clearly understood from the drawings. The length and positions of the hooks are so arranged relatively to the said plate that when the hooks are set, as shown in Fig. 1, the points of the hooks will be just about flush with the top of the plate, so that the plate thus forms a guard to prevent the tackle-hook from accidentally slipping out of or becoming disengaged from the detachinghooks, as will be readily understood. The plates .9 8 may be made of brass, while all the other parts of the apparatus are-preferably made of wrought-iron galvanized, although some of the parts may be made of good malleable iron when desirable.

As shown in the drawings, the hooks 0 c are turned outward or away from each other toward the ends of the boat; but, if preferred, the hooks may be turned inward toward each other and toward the center of the boat, in which case, instead of having the sheaves ZZ pivoted in a mortise in the standards a a, a small pulley-block may be pivoted on the inner side of the standard, with the chains running through the same, with substantially the same effect, as will be understood,

I do not of course confine myself to the described loeking device for holding the chains at the center of the boat, for while I greatly prefer this device, and while it forms one feature of my invention, yet any other suitable locking device maybe employed without departing from the other features of my inven-- tion.

Another advantage of the apparatus herein shown is that the holding-chains e e are divided at the center of the boat when theapparatus is released, and hence each chain may then be thrown compactly out of the way into each end of the boat, thus leaving thebottom of the boat entirely unobstructed thereby, and leaving the keel free to step the masts thereon, which is a very important point where lifeboatsare now required to carry masts and sails, whereas detaching apparatuses in which the chains or rods .are continuous or permanent along the keel present a constant ,obstruction, which prevents the mast being stepped directly on the keel and necessitates its being stepped on one side thereof, which is a weak and dangerous arrangement.

' It will be readily understood that instead of connection may be used, such as wire rope or jointed rods; but the chain is considered best. It will also be understood that instead of pivoting the links cl (1 to the top of a standard 5 rising from the keel, the links may be pivoted to any other sustaining-support secured to the structure of the boat.

"What- I claim is 1. In a detaching apparatus, the combina- 10 tion, with the inverted overturning hook c, of the link or links (Z (Z, pivoted at one end to the bight of the hook and at the opposite end to a sustaining support, with a chain, 6, or its equivalent extending from the hook to a holding and releasing device, substantially as here- 

